Even more Spartans were distinguished with Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools (TCIS) All-Conference honors; 21 athletes were named to the first-team and 14 athletes were named to the second-team. Coaches Greg Young (volleyball) and Bonnie Corrigan (girls lacrosse) both earned TCIS Coach of the Year awards, and Sherese Pittman ’21 took home with the highly coveted TCIS Player of the Year award.

Six athletes from Steward earned competitive spots on the Richmond Times Dispatch All-Metro team: Kyndall Diamond ’19 (first-team, girls lacrosse), Sherese Pittman ’21 (second-team, girls basketball), Efton Reid ’21 (second-team, boys basketball), Julia Monroe '20 (second-team, girls tennis), Ryan Monroe '22 (second-team, boys tennis), and Saara Qureshi ’21 (second-team, girls lacrosse).

Five of our graduating seniors committed to playing sports at the college level next fall. They are: Logan Warren ’19 (volleyball, Randolph College), Alex Fabiato ’19 (boys basketball, Randolph-Macon College), Noah Lacy ’19 (boys basketball, Hampden-Sydney College), William Glazebrook ’19 (baseball, University of North Carolina at Pembroke), and Kyndall Diamond ’19 (girls lacrosse, Marymount University).

“This year we made a name for ourselves,” said Assistant Athletic Director Christen Heidler. “Our students are taking their game to the next level, and that’s exactly where we want to be.”

Here is a glimpse of what our Spartans accomplished in the 2018-19 athletic season.

In their first year under new head coach Kara Bacile, our varsity girls basketball team finished the regular season as the undefeated TCIS champions after beating Bishop Sullivan 63–36. They also won the Steward Invitational for the first time in school history. Sherese Pittman ’21, who averaged 19.1 points per game this season, went home with several huge honors for her play including first-team All-State, first-team All-Conference, second-team All-Metro, MVP of the TCIS championship tournament, and TCIS Player of the Year — her second time winning that award. Mimi Traynham ’21 joined Sherese on both the All-Conference and the first-team All-State rosters, while Gates Fox ’23 was selected to the All-TCIS Tournament team.

After winning their opening game against Christchurch, the varsity boys basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Middleburg Academy in the VISAA state tournament, finishing fifth among VISAA Division II teams and third in the TCIS. Their season record of 24-7 was the best in school history since becoming a Division II team. Seven-foot-tall Power Forward Efton Reid ’21 was named to the first-team All-State squad as well as the All-Metro team and is nationally ranked 20th in the 2021 recruiting class by ESPN. Alex Fabiato ’19 earned second-team All-Conference honors in his final season at Steward and has committed to play basketball at Randolph-Macon College. Coach Curt Kassab won his 400th victory as a coach – no, that’s not a typo! Steward’s basketball players are extremely fortunate to have Coach Kassab’s wisdom and experience to draw from.

Varsity boys tennis, after ranking first going into the state tournament, fulfilled that projection by becoming the VISAA Division II champions for the second year in a row, ending the season with a 14-1-0 record. During the title match, Will Eiben ’20 won a 10-8 victory when the Spartans were down 3-2, pulling the score even. Michael Zuccaro ’20 and Ryan Monroe ’22 won their singles matches; Sachin Sanjay ’20 and Brenden Lawrence ’19 later secured the state title for Steward in No. 2 doubles. Monroe and Zuccaro received first-team All-State honors, while Elliot French ’20 and Brenden Lawrence earned spots on the second-team. Monroe, Zuccarro, and Lawrence all went on to represent Steward on the TCIS All-Conference team. As a pair, Michael Zuccaro and Ryan Monroe made the All-Conference team for doubles play as well. For his role leading the tennis team, Kurt Hammerschmidt was once again named the VISAA Division II Coach of the Year.

Varsity girls tennis took second place in the TCIS and finished runner-up in the state tournament. Their 18-3 regular season record was the best in school history. Two girls were named to the All-State team: Julia Monroe ’20 (first-team) and Anna Pastore ’21 (second-team). Julia earned MVP honors at the TCIS championship tournament and made first-team All-Conference for her singles play as well as second-team All-Metro. Several other athletes joined her on the All-Conference team including Anna Caplice ’20 (second-team singles), Anna Pastore (second-team singles), and Nayla Turpin ’22 (second-team singles). Julia Monroe and Sonali Sanjay ’20 made second-team All-Conference for their teamwork playing doubles tennis.

Steward’s golf team placed second in the TCIS and won the state tournament. Coach Catesby Jones was named VISAA Division II Coach of the Year, and four golfers were awarded first-team All-State honors: Tyler Ernst ’21, Charlie Hade ’19, Tyler Watkins ’19, and Mike Magnano ’20. Additionally, Charlie Hade, Tyler Watkins, and Tyler Ernst each earned an All-Conference nod. Tyler Ernst had a particularly outstanding match against Christchurch School on April 30, setting school records for most birdies in a nine-hole round (five) and most birdies in a row (four) while tying for the lowest score in a nine-hole match (33).

The varsity field hockey team made significant improvements during the 2018 season, finishing with an 8-5-1 record compared to last year’s 6-9-1 season. “I think we will be even better this fall,” said coach Susan Twining ’84. “We have a strong group of girls on the team with the potential to do very well against our competition. I am really excited for next season!” Grace Fass ’21 earned first-team All-State honors for her role on Steward’s varsity field hockey team, which finished the season fourth in the TCIS. Grace was also named to the TCIS first-team All-Conference team, as was Casie Steinfatt ’21. Saara Qureshi ’21 made second-team All-Conference.

Thirty-one Spartans participated in the TCIS cross country championship race, including 11 varsity boys, 10 varsity girls, and 10 JV athletes. Our runners stepped up during the race, setting an incredible five personal records in a single day. Jabrianna Lara ’22 finished eighth in the race and achieved first-team All-Conference honors. At the VISAA state race, Jabrianna finished 25th overall, and was only 21 seconds shy of earning an All-State distinction. The boys team ended the day placing 14th out of 40 teams, while the girls placed 11th out of 41 teams.

Steward’s swim team sent four athletes — two boys and two girls — to this year’s TCIS meet. Sisters Allison Langenburg ’20 and Erin Langenburg ’22 put on quite a show; Allison became the 2019 TCIS champion in both the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events, and Erin finished second place in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races. Both girls received All-Conference honors for their performance. At the VISAA DII state meet, Allison finished third, with All-State distinction, in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle races. Noah Nichols ’20 placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle events, earning All-State honors as well as first-team All-Metro honors for both the 100- and 200-yard breastroke. The boys and girls swim teams both finished fourth among their respective DII opponents. Joe Shaia ’20 swam personal bests in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle races. Scottie Gilg ’20 and Matthew McCullough ’21 qualified for states as divers.

At one point this season, the varsity girls volleyball team won a jaw-dropping 16 games in a row. The team finished with a 20-4-0 record, third in the TCIS and fifth going into the state tournament, ultimately falling in the semifinals. Nevertheless, the Spartan girls had an excellent showing on the All-State team, with Kennedy Crook ’21 (first-team), Hannah Lipinski ’21 (second-team), and Logan Warren ’19 (second-team) all making the squad. The three girls were also named to the TCIS All-Conference team — Lipinski earning first-team honors, and Crook and Warren making the second-team alongside teammate Crary Moore ’20. Coach Greg Young took home the TCIS Coach of the Year award.

Varsity boys soccer reached the first round of the VISAA state tournament, and fell in the semifinals in the TCIS championship tournament, finishing sixth in the conference. Steward sent two players to the 2018 TCIS All-Conference team: Tyler Steinfatt ’19 (first-team) and Sam Popp ’19 (second-team). James Cox ’20 was selected to the All-State squad with first-team honors.

Varsity girls soccer won this year’s Steward Invitational, defeating St. Margaret’s and Trinity at Meadow View to secure the victory. The girls squad finished the regular season with a 9-6-1 record while recording 6 shutouts. They ended sixth in the TCIS, and ranked seventh heading into the state tournament, reaching the quarterfinals in both. All-State and All-Conference awards went to Maria Fabiato ’20 (both first-team) and Lizzie Householder ’21 (both second-team) for their play this season.

Steward’s varsity baseball team placed runner-up in the TCIS tournament and third overall in the conference. Slotted as the fourth ranked team in the VISAA Division II, they ultimately fell in the semifinals to Miller School, who went on to clinch the state title. Steward’s baseball squad collectively earned the TCIS Betty Jean Riddick Sportsmanship Award. William Glazebrook ’19 (first-team), Logan Ransom ’19 (first team), and Harrison Clifton ’20 (second-team) all earned spots on the All-State team; Ransom and Glazebrook were honored with first-team TCIS All-Conference distinctions. Glazebrook hopes to continue his success on the diamond next year at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

The girls lacrosse team fell in the state semifinals but finished the season with a 9-8-0 record, earning a fourth place ranking for both the TCIS and VISAA Division II polls. The team sent three players to the All-Conference team: Saara Qureshi ’21 (first-team/midfield), Nicole Odibo ’21 (second-team/defense), and Kyndall Diamond ’19 (second-team/defense). Kyndall and Saara were also awarded first-team All-State awards, while Nicole was honored with second-team distinction. Kyndall, the team’s senior captain, was selected to the Richmond-Times Dispatch All-Metro Team (first-team) and has committed to play lacrosse for Marymount University. Saara made second-team All-Metro and led the team in every points category, breaking several school records this year with 80 goals, 48 assists, 144 draw controls, 75 ground balls, and 33 caused turnovers. In her second year, coach Bonnie Corrigan was awarded TCIS Co-Coach of the Year for leading the team to a 9-win season in the highly competitive Tidewater Conference. The team looks to continue their success next year, as they will return all but one starter.

The 2019 varsity boys lacrosse team ended the season with a record of 7-2 outside of the TCIS, including a close loss to Division I Benedictine in the finals of the Steward Invitational. However, they were not able to win a game within what is one of the best conferences for lacrosse in the state of Virginia. Benefiting from the play of senior attack man Jack Slyh ’19, leading scorer Will Elles ’22, and defender Jack Young ’19 — who earned a spot on the second-team All-Conference squad — coach James Tyler is proud of the team’s accomplishments and looking forward to next year as the welcome back rising seniors Griffon Amyx ’20 and Harrison Woodley ’20 to lead the charge.

Varsity cheerleading does not compete against conference rivals the same way our other teams do, but that doesn’t mean the team isn’t competitive. In fact, this year we had a record number of athletes join the cheerleading squad, and even more are expected to join in the upcoming season.

The hallmark of a successful athletics program is not just how well current teams perform, but also what athletes go on to do once they graduate. Many of Steward’s former athletic stars had a great year as well.

Marvin Cannon ’17 finished a great season for Washington State’s basketball team, playing in all 32 games including 20 starts. Currently, Marvin is in the transfer portal awaiting an opportunity to gain even more experience in another solid program and conference.

After graduating from Steward last year, Jack Caldwell ’18 enrolled in a gap-year program at TOVO Academy Barcelona to fine-tune his soccer skills and better prepare for college life. And, just as we expected, his hard work is paying off. We are happy to announce that Jack recently signed on to play Division I soccer at Loyola University Maryland.

In her first season on the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s cross country team, Summer Owens ’17 ran second at the conference championships. This is especially impressive considering Summer didn’t run on the team during her freshman year.

Brothers Peter Orgain ’18 and John Orgain ’18 helped Hampden-Sydney College’s lacrosse team go undefeated in the regular season in their first year on the team. The team went on to reach the Old Dominion Athletic Conference semifinals.

Pitcher Nic Enright ’15, coming off a great season at Virginia Tech in which he recorded 63 strikeouts in 50.1 innings and held opponents to a .210 batting average, was selected as the Cleveland Indians’ 20th round pick in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft. Nic was previously drafted by the New York Mets in 2015 but chose to pitch in college rather than be drafted straight out of high school.

Congratulations to all of our Spartan coaches and athletes for their commitment to helping Steward Athletics stand out from the pack!